Soul mates

Disclaimer

Foreword

I wrote this while I was under heavy pain medication prescribed by my doctor.

While the medicine calmed my nerves, I had to resort to writing to settle my anxiety.

19 Nov. 2006

Soul mates

And just like that we parted ways, again.

It's hard to describe what I mean by "again" because we had never met before. Yet somehow I felt we had always known each other. This phenomenon of deja-senti is not unheard of. Often when characters in romantic novels fawn over each other during the first post-coital cuddle, they feign hard to dispute emotions like "I feel like I've known you all my life." Then they often go for seconds. We didn't. We were meant to never cross paths again.

I don't know who called the ambulance but it was a good thing they did. After Julie left me, I didn't have much to look forward to. One evening before my landlord came over to discuss my late rent payments, I decided to wash down the leftover frozen pizza with a few drinks. I can't count well after half a bottle of Southern Comfort and neither can I stand steadily. I fell, crash-landed on my coffee table, and woke up on a stretcher with sirens blaring. Here's to Julie!

Recovering from severe liver and pancreatic damage, I swore I would never drink, ever. I forgot what alcohol even was. Welcome to my world of sobriety.

It took me six years to graduate from college while working dead-end jobs like part-time cashier, nighttime security guard, and pest-control officer. My degree in Computer Engineering landed me a salaried position and my future looked bright. I met Sherrie through a mutual friend and unlike any girl I had ever met, we clicked instantly. Six months later she moved in with me.

I remember one evening in particular. We watched the sun set on the beach, hand-in-hand. I was overwhelmed by the realization that things indeed had turned around for me. Life had changed. I have a degree, a job, and right next to me, my soul mate. We couldn't be happier.

Sherrie left without saying much. She didn't have to. Her biological clock was ticking and I wasn't ready to raise kids. Now that she left, I didn't have much to look forward to. So I picked up the bottle of Dominican Rum my coworker gave me for fixing his home computer.